Oregon or Washington?

[ezrdr55]

Last year I spent a week solo on the Utah Backcountry Discovery Route http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=834294 and it was possibly the best trip I have ever taken. This coming year I’m thinking about doing either the Oregon or Washington Backcountry Discovery Route. I’ll most likely be riding my ’09 Wee-Strom again, and camping out along the route as I go. Like Utah, I’ll plan for two weeks. I’ll do a meandering ride out there and back which will leave about a week to do the actual route. My questions are for those who have done both which one did you like the best and why? What were you riding and is either one more friendly for a solo rider on a Wee-Strom. The UTBDR was about all the challenge that me and the Wee wanted, but still it was great fun and very scenic. I’ve been following all of the ride reports associated with both of these trips, but I haven’t read anything about how the two rides compare to each other. My initial thoughts are that I want to do Oregon this coming year and then maybe Washington the following year, but I’m open to suggestions. Thanks in advance to anyone taking the time to post up your experiences.

[luckybum]

I've ridden both the ODCDR and the WABCDR on a KTM 690E. They're very different routes, with the Oregon being much more difficult in some sections. The rock garden section of the Oregon route would NOT be much fun on a wee. The Washington route is much more scenic and less demanding. Of course, all these routes change with the passage of time and it's been a couple of years since I've done them.

[CordR]

I don't have much to offer in the way of a comparison, but just a suggestion that you may want to post this in Trip Planning, or better yet, the Pacific Northwest forum in the regional section has a full thread about it and lots of local input.

I did about 3.5 of the WABDR sections last summer in aprox 2 days. We had some forest fire rerouting issues and some mechanical issues, so we weren't able to complete it in our allotted time. What I saw I really enjoyed, but can't offer a comparison to the other 2 as I've not yet done them.

[Idahosam]

Glad you enjoyed your time out here. Now, I could not and would not recommend your riding the ODBR on the V-Strom. Well the southern half anyway. I would think you could probably get through much of the north section to say Seneca once you start heading towards Christmas Valley on you'll wish you were not on a low clearance heavy bike........ just saying unless your the S &M type. There are no go a rounds down there.

Is time a constraint for you? You could ride up through bits and pieces of the ICT motorized and then come down Washington Or sections of the CDT.

I think this needs to go to trip planning.

[DaveStockwell]

WaBDR is easier. Nearly all logging roads. I rode parts of it this past summer on a KLR and had zero issues. With the right tires, I wouldn't hesitate to do it on my Vstrom. Two things to note:

1. Unless your have mad navigationn skills, bring a GPS. The topo maps for Washington do not show a lot of the logging roads. What looks like a fork in the road could actually have 5 different ways to go. I don't use a GPS but I've got a LOT of practice and I still went astray a couple of times.
2. Much of the central section of the WaBDR burned in the forest fires this past summer. Some of those areas may remain closed so check the interwebs right before you get up here.

If you do choose Washington, let me know. I'll grab some buddies and ride a section with ya.

[eakins]

another option is Colorado BDR which will be out within a week or so.

[ezrdr55]

Thanks for the replies and the suggestion to post this in the correct forum. It sounds like I may what to do Washington In 2013 on the Wee and then Oregon the following year as I may have that new Husky TR650 by then. Plus the GPS tracks for the Washington route are free to download, but I still would get the Butler maps as well.

[eakins]

Originally Posted by luckybum

I've ridden both the ODCDR and the WABCDR on a KTM 690E. They're very different routes, with the Oregon being much more difficult in some sections. The rock garden section of the Oregon route would NOT be much fun on a wee. The Washington route is much more scenic and less demanding. Of course, all these routes change with the passage of time and it's been a couple of years since I've done them.

The WABDR was designed to be big bike friendly with easier work arounds for harder sections. All of our BDRs use that same principle. The current ORBDR from http://www.oohva.org/Back%20Country/BCDRmain.html is a dirtbike route.
We are working with them to release our version and it will follow the same principle as our other BDRs. http://www.backcountrydiscoveryroutes.com/ORBDR The time frame for release is unknown and I know we'll be doing AZBDR & IDBDRs before Oregon.

[eakins]

Originally Posted by ezrdr55

Thanks for the replies and the suggestion to post this in the correct forum. It sounds like I may what to do Washington In 2013 on the Wee and then Oregon the following year as I may have that new Husky TR650 by then. Plus the GPS tracks for the Washington route are free to download, but I still would get the Butler maps as well.

yeah the map is key for the big picture view of how much farther do i have to go, where is gas, etc ...
you follow the gps, but consult the map.

[killurtv]

I did the Oregon route on my 990 2 years ago, I would recommend as early in spring/summer that you can swing if doing Oregon, it gets really sandy in sections. I went the first week in June, I hit some snow around Summer LK up on the Winter Rim, but overall a very good trip.

[wachs]

Originally Posted by killurtv

I went the first week in June, I hit some snow around Summer LK up on the Winter Rim, but overall a very good trip.

yeah, but roostafari bro!!!!!?

[Apple Jam]

Ride Oregon First.



.....We'll roost the other states next

[BigDave75]

Originally Posted by Apple Jam

Ride Oregon First.



.....We'll roost the other states next

Amen!!!

[ezrdr55]

Right now I'm about 80/20 in favor of the Washington route in September (2013). Why? The Wee will be happier on the easier WA route; and, if I get one, I won’t have the new Husky TR650 till the following year. I think the Husky would be better suited for the Oregon route. I was reading somewhere else about mosquitoes being bad on the WA route, but they didn’t say what time of year it was. Does anyone know if WA in September is a mosquito fest?

[some call me...tim]

I went on a trip last summer from Seattle to Glacier NP around the end of August and brought along mosquito coils as well as deet repellent. I was expecting we'd get eaten alive along the way, but surprisingly we had almost no issues with mosquitoes. We had lots of bees interested in us though--no stings but lots of curiosity.